Victor Wembanyama will make his NBA debut on Wednesday, when his San Antonio Spurs open the season against the Dallas Mavericks. Given how highly touted Wembanyama is, there was always going to be a wild amount of hype surrounding that game.
And Wembanyama’s performance on Friday against the Golden State Warriors in San Antonio’s final preseason game will only add to that hype.
Wembanyama finished the game with 19 points, five blocked shots and four rebounds. In the first quarter alone, he had 12 points and three blocks.
Victor Wembanyama in the 1st quarter:
12 Points
3 Blocks
55% FG
50% 3P
100% FT pic.twitter.com/nL4TOjrsjf— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 21, 2023
More than just statistics, it was abundantly clear watching Wembanyama that his size, wingspan and athleticism will be a real problem for the NBA’s best players. He was an absolute beast on both ends of the floor.
Victor Wembanyama just takes up so much space on the weakside. Hard to explain. He shows help on the roll, he is all the way in the paint. This tag is an overhelp that turns into a 3 for 90 percent of folks. Wemby recovers to *block* the shot. pic.twitter.com/gB2eRyfwAe
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) October 21, 2023
My goodness
Victor Wembanyama just blocked a Klay Thompson 3 then dunked in transition pic.twitter.com/Ppsj8f7MQl
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) October 21, 2023
Victor Wembanyama blocks the shot then drills a 3⃣-pointer.
He has 12 points in the 1Q!
Watch Spurs/Warriors LIVE on NBA TV ⬇️https://t.co/WfH3FJ6tZs pic.twitter.com/iGV3HDNO2r
— NBA (@NBA) October 21, 2023
Folks… watch Victor Wembanyama absolutely cook the Warriors
1) Runs a PnR like a guard and takes the contact on the jumper… swish
2) this time as the roller, gets the switch and finishes a ridiculous lay over Klay
3) defies physics and blocks Klay’s 3 then the dunk
4) L-O-L pic.twitter.com/dRcqtiCWxU
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) October 21, 2023
Another absurd sequence by Victor Wembanyama
-Block on Wiggins
-Contest on Steph
-Rebound
-Pass for a layup https://t.co/Suf08I3C3X pic.twitter.com/aOtvkQLWtS— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) October 21, 2023
While Wembanyama’s NBA career has not officially started, his performance in the final preseason game of the season generated a lot of buzz from basketball fans.
https://twitter.com/tsnmknd/status/1715556082926469508
Wemby on defense pic.twitter.com/9A6PQyogvJ
— dylan (@dylangonzalez21) October 21, 2023
There’s not enough hyperbole to describe the 2 min sequence that Wemby had in the 1Q of this Warriors game.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) October 21, 2023
Wemby already Top 15 and will be an All Star. https://t.co/1YGnXKSpQ9
— 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘢☆ (@Stunna999_) October 21, 2023
Victor Wembanyama looks like a legit DPOY candidate
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) October 21, 2023
Watching Wembanyama, it’s easy to see why he’s going to be a problem. Even in moments when an opponent gets the better of him, it requires significantly more effort to succeed than it would against nearly any other player.
JK turnaround over Wemby 👀 pic.twitter.com/RGQ61fDN4R
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 21, 2023
It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the NBA’s best players do to adjust to Wembanyama. It’s easy to see that he’ll be a tough matchup for pretty much any team and player he goes up against.
